Map of Dallas by Sam Street, showing John Laughlin Ferguson’s homestead. Photo courtesy of Dallas History Guild via Facebook.
In the first decades of the 1900s, two of Texas’ governors were husband and wife James E. “Pa” Ferguson and Miriam A. “Ma” Ferguson.
Many people may assume that Ferguson Road, which passes through our neighborhood, was named for those leaders.
But that’s not the case.
Ferguson Road is actually named for John Laughlin Ferguson, according to the Dallas History Guild. He had a farm near where the road intersects Interstate 30.
Photo courtesy of Dallas History Guild via Facebook.
If Laughlin sounds familiar, it’s because there’s a road called Laughlin Drive, which meets Ferguson near Lakehill Preparatory School.
The farmer was born Dec. 29, 1849, in Missouri and moved to Dallas in 1870. In 1977, he married Hellen Beeman Hobbs, a descendant of the first family to settle at White Rock Lake. Both are buried at Grove Hill Memorial Park.
It’s not clear how many acres Ferguson had in his farm, but the approximate location is shown in the map at the top of this post, made by Sam Street, who was a Fort Worth resident and businessman. Ferguson’s name is written near the top of the yellow square.
